hangin' on

Hangin' On
That isme hanging on the back, the last skier in the pic wearing the white, red and grey. I got back on, only to be dropped again. arrrrgggg. I need to get faster! Those guys are the big hitters in North America...olympians and all that!
Anyway, I am off to Bend, Oregon on thursday for Masters Nationals, so wish me luck! 30km freestyle...I need to recover from the Gold Rush!

the gold rush '07 is in the bag

I survived my weekend and so did hollie. She had a real good time with her mom, sis and niece in SF and I got through the 50km Gold Rush at Royal Gorge Nordic center today. (hollie is not back yet, so i will let her fill you in on her weekend.)
The race conditions were very warm, but the snow was cold and icy...boiler plate icy. The first lap was just nuts no one was in command and the front group was around 25, (until 1/2 way around the first lap) then the climb up stage coach split things up a bit. Having a bad start, I was on the wrong end of this group and had to go big to get around the exploding skiers to catch up to the front. It took about 5 km of frantic skiing, but I made it back. Then I had to settle down a bit and find a rhythm. I settled in and tried to stay out of trouble. as we left the stadium for lap #2 I felt good about how things were going. We approached the first downhill turn and i strted to step through it when I noticed I was flailing and could not get any edge, I barely made it through. As we approached the big downhill I gullped and feared if i would get through the technical sections without stacking it. Again, I could not get any edge. The snow was like frozen dust on top of ice it just sucked, you could tell who the good skiers were as they adjusted their techniques and railed that section. Another gap to close. I fought hard and got back on after about 7km. Right as I got back on there was a little attack that sent me out the back. I regrouped quickly and focused on skiing hard and smooth. I ended up not getting back on and I guess i missed the final fireworks which saw the bad ass Carl Swensen go away for good! I skied the rest of the race with a University of Utah skier...I told him I was a former Ute and he tried to drop me...he did not, and i shelled him going into the stadium at the finish. The nice thing about skiing with him was that he was so smooth it allowed me to settle in and ski hard and calm! I ended up 12th on the day, 2:08:??. I will take it. I did not bonk and I skied okay. it was a beautiful day and a blazing fast race.

Gold Rush is tomorrow

Happy St. Patricks Day. I hope my last name is Irish and not Scotish, for tomorrow at least...I am going to need some of that luck! Tomorrow is the Gold Rush 50 km sakte race at Royal Gorge Nordic Center. Its the big daddy, all the top Marathoners in America show up so it should be good. It is really warm though!

Steve and Susan

Although it was quite warm out, the snow was holding up pretty good in the treed areas. Steve (my team mate) and his girl friend Susan still managed to have some fun out there! Sun and Snow, its got to be California!

WARM!!!! (8:30am) temps in C

I was happy to see that at 10 minutes to 10 this morning the snow in the stadium was looking okay. I figure we will be racing for a bout 2 hours + and we start at 8am so i think we are going to have fast, dirty snow. I am going in a different direction than the wax recomendations for tomorrow so we will see how it shakes out.
wish me luck. I hope Hollie is having fun in SF

i want a "10" everyday

My Proud BBQ

Foxy Lurking

Hollie left for San Francisco yesterday to meet up with her Mom, Sister and Niece. The visit is long over due..I am sure they will have a blast. So, its me and the pups out at the ranch! It was so warm when I got home from work yesterday i fired up the BBQ! I grilled a nice lean burger up on my little one man BBQ and enjoyed the nice summer flavor. I also enjoed a cold porter from Butte Creek Brewing Co. actually i had 2... The dogs wanted in on it so bad...but i dont share.
Yesterday I said to myself, quietly to myself, that I want everyday to be a "10". like, on a scale of 1-10, i want everyday to be a ten. Well, i think this is going to be hard. I would not rate yesterday very high at all! So I am going to have to work at it. life is too short to not have a good time everyday! Maybe by setting my "10" goal out in the blog I will try harder...now its written!
Have a "10" day

bike commuting

The Commuter Bike

I just wanted to say that I think everyone should give bike commuting a try at least once. Its not physically hard, its just a minor routine change. You might have to get up a little earlier and plan what you are doing when you are in town a little better. But I have got to say, ITS FUN! Hollie and have been riding to work since the weather turned so nice. We did a lot of commuting last year, probably 50% of the time. You know it is nice to save a little gas money, but the best part is the fun you have going to and from work. I dont know many people that have fun driving to work...i know i dont. I get to work after riding in and i feel like a little kid who got 2 cookies when nobody else got 1.

If you own a bike do it. just try it. pack a bag with your work clothes, lunch and ride to work. you are going to love it. See if you notice any changes in your mood. You dont need any fancy gear, just a willing mind. Try it.

Its got a flashy light and fenders

day light savings

DAY LIGHT SAVINGS

so I guess the good thing about day light savings is that I can ride home from work in the light of day. If you have ever been here, you know that there are no flat roads...so to just ride home nice and easy is near impossible. But alassssss, we have flume trails. You can link up a ton of these flume trails and get some sweet flat off raod riding in. I love taking the Kona, Jake the Snake cross bike out on such trails...they are a blast and they go on for miles! anyway, in 1.5 hour ride home i am only on pavement for about 20 minutes total.

AHH, THE GOLD COUNTRY

but where did the winter go? i rode home in shorts and short sleaves!!!!!

IN WAITING

SO a quick update on our trip plans...or lack there of. We are looking at a departure date of middle May to middle June and we plan on going into Idaho and checking the Sawtooths out pretty hard. We can deviate in any direction though as we are on a lose schedule and our mission is to enjoy ourselves...so you never know where we may turn up. We could even turn up knocking on your door asking to do laundry and or to plug our camper in! Anyway, I found a great blogspot from a couple years ago that has been great to read as the couple went on a year mission that is very similar to ours...its worth a look, but you need to check the original post! www.underagedrvers.blogspot.com
Other than that, we are back to work and trying to get a rough idea of what we want to do and where we are heading. I am also thinking about camper / truck modifications.
-2, 6 volt batteries in place of the 1, 12volt we have (increases ahmp hours)
-ski box on roof
-black waste hose storage (poop tube)
-possible flatbed with boxes on truck
-better bike rack. the $500 rack we bought from THULE sucks!
anyway, that is it.